Does this kid have any brains? That’s the question Nintendo’s legendary game designer jokingly asked himself during the development of Super Mario 64. His son was one of ten schoolchildren given the opportunity to try out Bob-omb Battlefield at an early stage, where Miyamoto observed the kid repeatedly trying to climb a rock wall.
He revealed this in an old, recently rediscovered interview where he described the situation as follows:
“Seeing him try dozens of times, over and over, to get up this unclimbable hill, as a parent I couldn’t help but think, ‘Geez, does this kid have any brains?'”
But despite this, the kids wanted to keep going, time and time again, and this experience influenced Miyamoto’s views on game design, particularly the idea that a game can be entertaining even if the player does not progress. He reflected on the traditional notion that a game must be affordable to be fun, noting that Super Mario 64 showed that games can be engaging even without immediate success.
Did you play Super Mario 64 growing up and were there moments that were more challenging than others?